Musk vs Bezos: Blue Origin’s New Moon Plan to Beat SpaceX
- The competition to return humans to the Moon is heating up, with both SpaceX and Blue Origin vying for NASA contracts and increasingly ambitious plans.
- A report by Ars Technica, based on internal Blue Origin documents, outlines a mission architecture designed to land astronauts without the complex orbital refueling that is central to...
- The shift at SpaceX marks a significant change in direction for the company, founded by Elon Musk with the long-term goal of colonizing Mars.
Space Race Intensifies as Blue Origin Details Moon Landing Plan, SpaceX Shifts Focus
The competition to return humans to the Moon is heating up, with both SpaceX and Blue Origin vying for NASA contracts and increasingly ambitious plans. Just days after SpaceX announced a strategic pivot towards establishing a lunar city, Blue Origin has revealed details of its approach to landing astronauts on the Moon, aiming to potentially leapfrog SpaceX in the race. The rivalry comes as the U.S. Seeks to maintain pace with China’s lunar ambitions.
A report by Ars Technica, based on internal Blue Origin documents, outlines a mission architecture designed to land astronauts without the complex orbital refueling that is central to SpaceX’s Starship-based lunar lander approach. Gizmodo was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the documents, and Blue Origin has not yet commented on the report.
From Mars to the Moon: SpaceX’s Strategic Shift
The shift at SpaceX marks a significant change in direction for the company, founded by Elon Musk with the long-term goal of colonizing Mars. As recently as , Musk described the Moon as a “distraction” from that primary objective. However, SpaceX is now facing the possibility of losing the Artemis 3 lunar lander contract to Blue Origin, a factor likely influencing the change in strategy.
Musk signaled the shift on , announcing SpaceX’s focus on building a Moon city. This announcement was followed by a symbolic post from Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, featuring an image of a tortoise emerging from the shadows. This image is widely interpreted as a reference to Blue Origin’s mascot and the fable of “The Tortoise and the Hare,” suggesting a strategy of steady, reliable development to outpace SpaceX’s more ambitious, but potentially riskier, approach.
The Artemis Program and the Lunar Lander Contract
NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, slated to be the first to return humans to the lunar surface since the Apollo program, initially awarded a contract to SpaceX in for the development of the Starship Human Landing System (HLS). The original timeline aimed for a launch by , but developmental delays have pushed the mission back to . These delays prompted NASA to reopen the contract competition in , creating an opportunity for Blue Origin.
Blue Origin is currently preparing its Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) cargo lander for its first test flight, scheduled for later in . Success with the MK1 would pave the way for the MK2 crew lander, potentially positioning Blue Origin to secure the Artemis 3 contract if it can demonstrate readiness before SpaceX’s Starship HLS.
Blue Origin’s Two-Mission Approach
According to the Ars Technica report, Blue Origin’s plan involves two distinct missions: an uncrewed demonstration and a crewed landing. The uncrewed mission will require three launches of Blue’s New Glenn rocket to assemble the necessary components in low-Earth orbit. These components include two “transfer stages” and a smaller version of the MK2 lander, dubbed “Blue Moon MK2-IL.” The assembled stack will then be boosted into an elliptical orbit around Earth and subsequently into an elliptical orbit around the Moon, culminating in a descent to and ascent from the lunar surface.
The crewed landing mission is more complex, requiring four New Glenn launches to deliver three transfer stages, the MK2-IL lander, and a docking port. These components will dock in low-Earth orbit before being boosted into a specialized orbit around the Moon where they will rendezvous with NASA’s Orion spacecraft, carrying the astronaut crew. The crew will then transfer to the MK2-IL lander for the descent to the lunar surface and subsequent return to Orion.
While Blue Origin’s approach avoids the complexities of orbital refueling, it still presents significant technical challenges, including complex docking procedures and deep-space maneuvers that the company has not yet attempted. The company is aiming for an uncrewed Moon landing later in , but both SpaceX and Blue Origin still have considerable work ahead of them to achieve their lunar ambitions.